ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CLASSIFY PRO-LIFE, PRO-GUN AMERICANS AS TERRORISTS
By
NWV News writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
July 5, 2009
© 2009 NewsWithViews.com
An amendment to a bill swiftly moving through the US Congress will allow the Obama Administration's Attorney General to classify Americans as domestic terrorists if they are pro-life, pro-gun and anti-big government.
Impeached Florida judge -- now a Democrat Party member of the House of Representatives -- Rep. Alcee Hastings introduced what some claim is a disturbing piece of legislation. Hasting's amendment calls for the Attorney General to have discretion over who is called a terrorist and what groups will be treated as terrorist groups.
"This
is arguably one of the worst
pieces of legislation to come down the pike in a long, long time.
In essence Attorney General Eric Holder -- a Bill Clinton retread --
will have the discretion to label Americans terrorists. Hastings is
a dangerous man and should be forced to resign from congress. He's also
proposed the creation of "emergency camps" that are nothing
more than prisons," warns political strategist Mike Baker.
"This amendment is part and parcel of the trend in this country
to suppress dissent by patriots by calling them domestic terrorists,"
he added.
In an unclassified report entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current
Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization
and Recruitment," Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano
and her agency included the following description of "extremists:"
"Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided
into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented
(based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),
and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority
in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority
entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to
a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."
Last Thursday, Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) made the following remarks
on the House Floor regarding Congressman Alcee Hastings’ (D-FL)
amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill:
"The
Hastings Amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill (which
now is being considered en bloc) prohibits the recruitment, enlistment,
or retention of persons with known affiliations to "groups determined
by the Attorney General to be of a violent, extremist nature."
"Members on both sides of the aisle support the purpose of this
amendment because we recognize that there are legitimate concerns about
the enlistment of persons who may seek to use their military training
to cause harm to innocents, but we should take pause to consider the
breadth of this amendment carefully. I just want to express concern
about the language of this amendment, and my concerns are shared by
many in this House," said Rep. Franks.
"While the amendment seeks to keep gang members and members of
violent groups out of the military, the amendment by its language is
much more broad. Specifically, it confers upon the Attorney General
the ability to categorize groups as hate groups, and this sounds an
alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report
released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably,
a majority of Americans as "extremists," warned Franks.
"I take extreme offense that the federal government -- through
a report issued under the authority of a Cabinet-level official -- would
dare to categorize people who are "dedicated to a single issue,
such as opposition or abortion or immigration" as "right-wing
extremists" and it begs the question of whether the Attorney General,
under Mr. Hastings' Amendment, can look to the Napolitano report to
decide who is an extremist, or can make the same categorization of the
majority of Americans as extremists who may then be kept from joining
the military, or who may be discharged," said Rep. Franks.
"I want to state unequivocally that I believe that it is not the
intent of this Congress to label pro-lifers, federalism proponents,
and pro-immigration enforcement groups and their affiliates as extremists
under the bill. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle should
make a strong effort to assuage these concerns and make our intentions
clear. If the intent of this amendment is to go after citizens because
of their political views and moral convictions, then the amendment is
unconstitutional. I hope that the sponsor of the Amendment will make
clear tonight that this is not the intent," he added.
Rep. Alcee Hastings also introduced what many say is another disturbing
piece of legislation. That new bill calls for the Secretary of Homeland
Security Janet Napolitano to build at least six facilities that can
be designated as "emergency centers. Hastings rationale for such
facilities is to gather and "house" civilians on what are
basically detention centers guarded by armed soldiers or paramilitary
troops.
The House bill (HR 645) -- National Emergency Centers Establishment Act -- is not even on the radar of members of the elite media. According to critics of the plan, if passed the government will create camps or centers that by their nature restrict the activities of US citizens herded into them.
In fact, one provision -- Section 2 (b) (4) -- states: "[To] meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security."
One critic, political strategist Mike Baker claims the idea of such detention center smacks of the type of concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany, Americans find repugnant.
"Why aren't the news media covering this story? Could it be because they fear being the first occupants of these so-called emergency installations? Where is the outrage by our nation's Fourth Estate?" asks Baker.
Hastings bill is suspected of attempting to help expand the President Obama's military and law enforcement powers. While Hastings pushes this bill, even Republican congressmen are hesitant to remind one another and the nation that this Florida congressman was impeached while he sat on Florida's federal court bench.
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, he became the first African-American federal judge in the state of Florida, and served in that position for ten years. He’s still called “Judge” by some of his colleagues, but one would think he’d rather forget his days on the federal bench.
In 1989, Judge Hastings was impeached by the US House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. The Democratic-controlled Senate convicted Hastings of accepting a $150,000 bribe in 1981 in exchange for a lenient sentence and of perjury in his testimony about the case. Hastings said the charges against him smacked of racism.
Even Rep. John Conyers, who is also black, said he “found no trace of racism during the investigation.” He urged his colleagues to remove Hastings from the bench. He said, “[Hastings] is unfit to serve.”
When the ultra-liberal Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi nominated Hastings for the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, even members of her own political party balked.
"The prospect of Rep. Alcee Hastings becoming the chairman of the House of Representative’s Intelligence Committee was proposed by Congressional Black Caucus, who had been pressuring the new House Speaker Pelosi to appoint blacks to key leadership positions and Hasting benefited from the pressure on the radical left Pelosi," said former Detective Sidney Frances (NYPD-ret.), himself an African-American.
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While Hastings did not become chairman of that committee, he is a ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
